Apium nodiflorum is similar to berula erecta, differing in its more shallowly-toothed leaves, lack of bracts and less upright posture, by having bracteoles which are unlobed, and by having leaflets which touch or overlap at the base.
Common name:
Fool's watercress
Family:
Scientific name:
Apium nodiflorum
Main flower color:
Range:
Ireland, Wales and England
Height:
Up to 80 cm, for the flowering stems; lower stems are prostrate, rooting at the leaf nodes
Habitat:
Ditches and other wet places
Flowers:
Small, white, in compound umbels, terminal and at the leaf nodes. Rays are unequal in length. Flowers are subtended by veined, green bracteoles with lighter coloured margins. There are no bracts at the base of the umbels
Fruit:
Small, ovate capsules, shallowly ridged
Leaves:
Light to dark green, pinnately divided into a terminal leaflet (often partly lobed) and four to six opposite pairs of lateral leaflets, all lined by shallow teeth. Opposite leaflets overlap at the base
Season:
July to August
Rarity:
★★★★★
